I wanted to say something in honor of this great American, but every thing I could think to say sounded a bit cliche. I think I am at a loss of words because I don't understand the Civil Rights movement. Now don't get me wrong I don't mean I am in any way against Civil Rights or that I don't know the facts of history. I am all for Civil Rights I and think what King and others did was amazing. All I am saying is that it is something that has never been a part of my life. I am from small town Iowa. We were not exactly the front lines for social revolution. I went to school in Iowa and have lived in rather non-diverse small towns ever since college. I am not so blind to think that I am never seen discrimination. I think it is save to say I am simple ignorant to whole situation.
Come to think of it, I am not sure if it is ignorance for just simple the fact that I am desensitized. It simply no longer occurs to me that all people are not free and equal. The thought seldom enters my mind that today thousands of people will die from a wide verity of things including natural causes, cancer, murder, starvation, religious believes, extreme weather, accidents, crashes... Maybe I have just come to understand the facts of life. Maybe it is not that I am desensitized but that I am a realist.
I think this is why today is Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. day. So people like me who were not there and do not have any memories can learn. I can take my attitude, ignorance and desensitized nature and change. Wait...Change...Yes, we can change... and maybe tomorrow I will understand just a little bit better what the good doctor King was fighting for.
Keep up the fight
Monday, January 19, 2009
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1 comment:
You are more "sensitized" than most, my friend. The mere fact that you are reflecting on this is proof. I like to remember it is not that we are asked to understand everything perfectly, only that we are open to the process and movements it sparks within us.
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